"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to be afraid of." This is perhaps the most well known slogan of anti-privacy advocates and would-be totalitarians the world over. At one and the same time, this simple statement both criminalizes the practice of privacy while excusing some of the most heinous attacks on the rights and liberties of individuals by governments and corporations.
Of course, the notion that "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to be afraid of" is absurd on its face, at least in any society that is predicated upon the civilizational principle separating the public and private spheres. Perhaps the simplest way to undermine this dangerous idea is to ask some rather simple questions of those who espouse it. For example: What is your name? What is your Social Security Number? What is your bank account number? What is the password to your main email account?
Recently, we decided to head out onto the streets of New York City with actor and comedian Adrian Sexton to ask folks if they agreed with the statement "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to be afraid of." And if they answered in the affirmative, we then asked them to provide us with rather sensitive information. Some of the replies were rather surprising. Check it out below:
Know Your Joe: New App For Coffee Connoisseurs
In today's busy, bustling world, few things fuel you faster than a nice cup (or carafe) of coffee. Iced, spiced, black, blonde, it doesn't matter as long as it does the job. Now, there's a new app to help you learn more about the world's greatest caffeinated creation...
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| This may be true, but you can still do a damned decent home-brew... (Image courtesy funnysigns.net.) |
Who Would Jesus Watch? New Facial Recognition Software Tracks Church Attendance
Oh, god. As if it weren't "bad" enough in the eyes of The Most High that your lapsed morals caused you to skip church on Sunday to be a brunch-munching heathen or false-idolater football fan, now you've also been caught...by computer.
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| The lord doesn't always work in mysterious ways...sometimes it's just computers and cameras. (Image courtesy hackingchristianity.net.) |
Want A Better Future? This Break-Up App Might Help...
When Paul Simon wrote his classic song, "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" back in 1975, smartphones had yet to be invented. However, had he written it recently, he could have included a line to the effect of, "Just tap on the app, Chap..." as one of the means of easily escaping a failed romance...
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| Granted, breakups have been brutal throughout all of recorded history... (Image courtesy pinterest.com.) |
A Kick In The Astroturf: Amazon Trounces Fake Online Reviews With AI
You might love the internet, but you probably don't trust the internet. With all manner of scams from impostors faking cute pictures on dating sites, to robots faking comments on popular blogs, the skullduggery is ceaseless. Now, Amazon aims to use artificial intelligence to take down one of the worst offenders against our online honor...fake product reviews.
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| The truth will set you free. Everything else will set you up for something crazy. (Image courtesy i.huffpost.com.) |
Space Station Sunday: Eyes And The Dragon
Good afternoon, space fans!
Here’s what was up, up in orbit this week...
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| Just space things. (Image courtesy Terry Virts.) |
Watch Out: Apple Watch 2.0 Already In The Works
Time flies, and technological pertinence flies with it. Since the launch of the much-lauded Apple
Watch brought the fans out in force for the treasured timepieces this year, it
has been revealed that Apple is already working on their new-and-improved 2016
model.
| Ready for round two, Apple lovers? (Image courtesy nymag.com.) |
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